Some People Make Vision Boards

I practice Pranoia

It’s a nice thought, mapping the future in magazine clippings, with tidy captions—
abundance, alignment, the life I deserve, xoxoxo

[Image is satire…for now.]

But I prefer to take a sweaty walk through the wreckage of all my darling plans that didn’t quite reach the magnitude I imagined them to be; yet still whisper, thank you and try again you silly little shit.

And unfortunately the only fuel my padded-wagon will take is pure Pranoia.

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What is Pranoia? You didn’t ask.

—and probably didn’t even make it this far.

Pranoia: The belief that the universe is secretly conspiring in your favor. (Coined by John Perry Barlow) And the simplest path to staying flexible. (The opposite of paranoia).

Not spirit-sugar, but pattern recognition. It’s how belief systems shape perception—and perception shapes reality.

People who expect things to work out, often find out they were right. Even if their friends are glaring from the passenger seat as they make a flight with a full 30 seconds to spare (cue Kieran Culkin energy).

So why is this a shared phenomenon?

Because, belief in a benevolent world shapes our brain’s ability to notice opportunities. (i.e., when we expect life to work with us, we begin to see possibility) And perhaps most impactful, we lower that foggy-eyed stress, which tends to blind us, or even cause us to throw hands, sorry, throw up our hands and give up.

Optimism expands cognitive function.

Gratitude reconfigures our neural architecture.

Anticipation of goodness trains your brain to see it.

So I may not build many glitter boards—but I do subscribe to mantras. I do speak kindness over my life. I do believe in meditation, as to stay in the present and out of default mode—which reminds me, I need to finish The Walkaways, by Cory Doctorow. And I do clock synchronicities: pages that opens to the sentence I need, delays that reroute me, recurring dream symbols…I should probably just make a vision board.

The point is, there are MANY things I have labored for that I can’t help but feel a sense of failure over. Yet I’m sure they all served as cogs in my story.

Delusional.

Hey, I heard that!

Luckily, Pranoia doesn’t require proof—just the type of person that would write this at 2am and not even proofread it before posting. (kidding, we all know there’s no point in proofreading until AFTER posting).

I wish I could blame alcohol for this piddle of a post, but I stopped drinking months ago. I need my mind working at top speed for The Work coming my way. ;)

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